I saw the 500i (auto) at the dealer (AJ Foyat - Houston) and was impressed! That machine really looks great. The dealer sold his first two over the phone and said he expects his next two (manuals will sell before they are even assembled (I would have never even seen one except the mechanic was installing a winch). He has been selling the heck out of Cats since the latest makeover. He sells Kawasaki and also Suzuki (in addition to Artic Cat) and they have been selling MUCH slower than the new Cats. The dealer said the demand has been much higher than expected (7 to 10 calls a day on just the 500i) and he does not think he will be able to keep one on diplay until late next year. He sold the pair of 500i autos for 7K each. He said he was selling the manuals for $6,600.

If the 500i had a locker front end like my Sportsman I would be thinking trade. Nice machine!

 

The Houston dealership got two 500i man and two 400i man yesterday. I've been waiting to long for this bike. Picking up later today. You know of any place to ride around these parts.

 

I took my FIRST ride on the Automatic 500i today at the dealership.

The ride was excellant.The steering was excellant.The ground clearance was superior.Not a whole lot of lag time with the belt either.I like the looks of this quad to.

This quad did NOT accelerate anything like my 500cc Sportsman.That disappointed me.I was hoping for about the same performance from this ATV.I also did not like the dingy looking speedometer.It looked like the one on my 10 speed from 25 yrs ago.

The price of this quad was real good.I could of bought that model for 6150.The manuel one was 5995.

All in All?Its just not the quad for ME,especially givin the fact that it has no locker 4x4 mode for the front Diff,and the lack of good,mid range throttle acceleration.Im most certain that my next quad will be the new 660 Grizz.

Bill

 

Spring Creek is probably the most popular place in town. I ride north of there in the San Jacinto River (North of the Woodlands @1488). If you want to drive two hours to the north, then there is Shilo Ridge close to Crocket, Tx with loads of trails. Where in Houston do you live?

 

Muddy,
Too bad you don't like manuals, I don't notice the acceleration problems you mention with my 500i manual, but would agree with the auto eval in the mid range (not sure what's going on there). Also, lockers will definately come out for the i models, looks like a Canadian dude, might already be designing one (more on that later). We're having a lot of discussions about that (locks) on other threads (although I'll admit, haven't needed a locker yet - other than an "on the blocks" test I did the other night for yellow). Anyway, the you'll like the Grizz 660, it was my 2nd choice. I just liked the ride better and durability of the Cat better. For me, electronics, lcd displays, and push button this/that is a negative, more things to break. (My philiosophy has always been, "keep it simple stupid", especially in some of the places you go with ATV's. But that's just me. Are you going to upgrade your tires to get some more GC out of the Grizz?